Pivotable yarn guide bracket for circular knitting machines

ABSTRACT

A yarn guide bracket comprising a rear mounting member mountable on the cam carrier of a knitting machine, and a forward yarn guide supporting member pivotably secured to the mounting member for vertical angular movement between a horizontal operative position and an upright inoperative position, the pivotable member being kept in position by means of a leaf spring.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Morris Philip 2519 Grand Ave., Bronx,NY. 10468 {21] Appl. No. 880,081 [22] Filed Nov. 26, 1969 [45] PatentedJune 15, 1971 [54] PIVOTABLE YARN GUIDE BRACKET FOR CIRCULAR KNITTINGMACHINES 7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.Cl 66/19, 66/ 141 [51] Int. Cl D04b 15/54 [50] Field ofSearch66/19, 125, 131, 141

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 374,196 12/1887 Marshall66/141 X l 13,5s4,47s

Brinton et al. 66/141 Sedmihradsky 66/141 X Hipwell 66/141 X Jones66/125 Killian 66/125 B Primary Examiner Robert R. MackeyAttorney-Tashof and Osheroff ABSTRACT: A yarn guide bracket comprising arear mounting member mountable on the cam carrier of a knitting machine,and a forward yarn guide supporting member pivotably secured to themounting member for vertical angu- Iar movement between a horizontaloperative position and an upright inoperative position, the pivotablemember being kept in position by means of a leaf spring.

PIVOTAELE YARN GUIDE BRACKET FOIR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHHNES The presentinvention relates to a pivotable yarn guide bracket and morespecifically to a yarn guide bracket so constructed that the portion ofthe bracket carrying the yarn guide can be pivoted between a positionwherein the yarn guide is in the operative position and a positionwherein the yarn guide is in an inoperative position.

Generally, in circular knitting machines, the bracket holding the yarnguide is a rigid bracket mounted on the dial cam carrier. The mountingmeans for both the bracket and the yarn guide within the bracket areadjustable so that the guide can be properly positioned to feed the yarnto the needles. Frequently during adjustments of the machine, inspectionof the needles, etc., it is necessary to remove the yarn guide from theoperative position wherein the yarn is fed to the needles. This involveseither removing the guide from the bracket or removing the bracket fromthe machine, necessitating careful adjustments when the yarn guide is tobe returned to the operative position.

To overcome these shortcomings it has been proposed to so construct thebracket as to be pivotable between an operative position to aninoperative position, thereby permitting access to the needles whendesirable. However, the various attempts to make such a pivotablebracket have resulted in complicated constructions or constructionswhich do not firmly maintain the guide in the operative position duringoperation of the machine.

The present invention has avoided these shortcomings of the prior art byproviding a bracket which is simple to manufacture, simple inconstruction, small in size, but yet which is pivotable, so that theyarn guide can be shifted in and out of the operative position with easeand without requiring time consuming adjustments when the guide isreturned to the operative position. At the same time, the presentinvention results in a bracket which, when in the operative position,maintains the yarn guide rigidly in position.

In essence, the present invention is directed to a yarn guide bracketcomprising a rear mounting member which is mountable on the dial camcarrier, said mounting member having a channel at its forward end.Pivotably mounted in this channel is the actual yarn guide supportingmember and a leaf spring is provided for resiliently holding the yarnguide supporting member in both the operative and inoperative positions.

Therefore, according to one aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a yarn guide bracket comprising a rear mounting membermountable on the dial cam carrier of a knitting machine, and a forwardyarn guide supporting member pivotably secured to said mounting memberfor verti cal angular movement between a substantially horizontaloperative position and an upright inoperative position; said mountingmember having a substantially horizontal base including a rear portionand a forward portion, the latter having a pair of laterally spacedapart, longitudinally extending, upstanding opposed sidewalls, saidopposed sidewalls defining between them a longitudinally extendingchannel whose bottom is the upper surface of said forward base portion,said rear portion having a vertical slot therethrough for receivingtherein a bolt for fastening said mounting member on said dial camcarrier; said supporting member having a rear section, an intermediatesection and a forward section, said rear section being positioned insaid channel, a horizontal pintle extending laterally through saidsidewalls and said rear section whereby said supporting member isvertically pivotable between said operative horizontal position and saidinoperative upright position, said forward section of said supportingmember including means for mounting thereon a yarn guide; a leaf springhaving one end thereof secured to the underside of the intermediatesection of said supporting member, with the other end of said leafspring being free and extending beneath said forward base portion ofsaid mounting member when said supporting member is in the operativeposition, so that when said supporting member is in said operativeposition, said leaf spring is resiliently pressed against at least partof the underside of said forward base portion to constantly urge saidsup porting member downwardly, and so that when said supporting memberis in an upright inoperativeposition, said leaf spring is resilientlypressing against a forward extremity of said forward base portion tobias said supporting member away from said operative position.

This and other aspects of the present invention will be readily apparentfrom the following description in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the yarn guide bracket in the operativeposition;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the yarn. guide bracket of FIG. I in theoperative position;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the yarn guide bracket of FIG. 2showing the yarn guide in the inoperative position; and

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the bracket of FIG. I.

The yarn guide bracket of the present invention is usable on circularknitting machines having a knitting dial. The machines can be dialknitting machines only, or can be dial and cylinder machines.Furthermore, the machines can be of the type wherein the needle beds arestationary and the cams rotate, or the type where the cams arestationary and the needle beds rotate.

In the following description there will be used the relative positionalwords rear and forward." Rear" will refer to the direction toward thefastening of the bracket onto the cam carrier, that is, the direction tothe left in FIGS. 1 and 2, while forward" will refer to the directiontoward the free end of the bracket, that is, the direction to the rightin FIGS. I and 2.

Referring to the drawings, there is provided a rear mounting member 10and a forward yarn guide supporting member 12. Mounting member 10 isconstituted by a base 14 which is substantially horizontal. The forwardportion of said base is provided with a pair of laterally spaced apart,longitudinally extending, opposed sidewalls I6 and IE upstanding fromsaid ase.

The opposed sidewalls l6 and i8 define a channel, the bottom of thechannel being the upper surface 20 of the forward portion of base M.Through the rear portion of base 14 there is a vertical slot 22 forreceiving therethrough a bolt 24 which provides the means for fasteningmounting member I0, and therefore the yarn guide bracket itself, ontothe top of the dial cam carrier 26, shown in phantom. A washer 28, widerthat the width of the slot, is also provided to assist the bolt 24 inrigidly securing the bracket to the dial cam carrier. In the illustratedembodiment the slot 22 is longitudinally elongated to permitlongitudinal adjustment of the bracket on the cam carrier. As is knownin the art, dial cam carrier 26 overlays the dial 30 in whose slots aremounted, for horizontal reciprocation, dial needles 32, the dial 3t andneedles 32 being shown in phantom.

It will be noted that the sidewalls l6 and 18 extend rearwardly onto therear base portion and that at the rear these sidewalls are bevelleddownwardly. it is not necessary that the sidewalls I6 and 18 extendrearwardly into the rear portion, but such extension serves tostrengthen the construction.

Yarn guide supporting member 12 is constituted by a rear section,intermediate section and forward section and in the illustratedembodiment the rear section is constituted by a tongue 34 whose width issubstantially that of the lateral space between sidewalls l6 and 18, sothat the tongue 36 can be received in the channel defined by saidsidewalls with a minimum of lateral play between mounting member 10 andsupporting member 12. A horizontal pintle 36 passes through horizontalbores in the sidewalls I6 and I8 and the tongue thereby permittingsupporting member 12 to pivot vertically about said pintle. The locationof the pintle 36 and the dimensions of the base M and tongue 34 are suchthat when the supporting member 12 is in the operative position, asshown in FIG. 2, the bottom of the tongue is as close as possible to thebottom of the channel, the bottom of the channel being the upper surface20 of the forward portion of the base. In fact, in this position atleast a portion of the undersurface of tongue 3 abuts the bottom of thechannel, such abutment defining stop means serving to prevent downwardangular movement of the supporting member below the operative position.Because of the close tolerance between parts, a bevel 38 is provided atthe lower end of the rear of tongue 34 to provide the clearancenecessary to permit swinging or pivoting supporting member 12 aboutpintle 36.

In order to resiliently but firmly maintain the supporting member in theoperative position, there is provided a flat or leaf spring 40 havingone end secured to the underside of the intermediate section of thesupporting member 12, said spring being secured by means of plate 82 andbolts 44 passing through said plate, said spring, and into threadedengagement with the intermediate section. The free end of said spring 40extends beneath the forward base portion of the mounting member when thesupporting member is in the operative position. The spring resilientlycontacts at least part of the underside of said forward base portion,the portion being contacted in the illustrated embodiment being thelower forward corner 46 of the base 14. Optionally, the lower corner 46may have a slight bevel, as shown in H0. 2. It will be appreciated thatwhen the parts are in the position shown in FlG. 2, the resilient forceof the spring constantly urges supporting member 12 downwardly while theabutting surfaces of the undersurface of tongue 34 and the bottom of thechannel prevent further downward movement. This coaction between theabutment of the surfaces and the resilient force of spring 40 firmlymaintain the supporting member in the operative position.

As shown in F IG. 2, the bottom or undersurface of the base 14 isstepped, or at two elevations, with the undersurface of the forward baseportion being positioned higher or above the undersurface of the rearbase section to provide a cutout or notch 41. Cutout or notch 41provides a space for receiving the free end of spring 40. in theillustrated embodiment, in order to obtain the benefit of the resilientforce of spring 40, the undersurfaces of the intermediate and rearsections of the supporting member 12 are disposed higher or above atleast the forwardmost extremity or corner 46 of the forward base portionof the mounting member. In this way, when the supporting member is inthe operative position, the abutment of spring 40 against corner 46bends the spring to provide the resilient force urging the supportingmember downwardly.

The forward section of the supporting member is substantially similar tothat of prior art yarn guide brackets and includes a vertical bore 48for receiving therein the shaft 50 of the yarn guide proper, the lowerend 52 of the shaft 50 being the portion which directs the yarn to theneedles. The yarn guide proper, that is, shaft St) and lower end 52, isof conventional construction and forms no part of the present invention.Through the lower end 52 are bores 54 and 36. When the yarn guide isthreaded with the yarn Y, the yarn is fed through the appropriate one ofbores 54 or 56, depending upon whether the yarn is to be fed to the dialneedles 32 in dial 311 or to the cylinder needles 35 in cylinder 33. Alongitudinal set screw 58, in threaded engagement with the forwardsection, abuts the shaft 50 of the yarn guide to maintain the yarn guidein the proper position.

The forward section of the supporting member 12 has another verticalbore 60 therethrough, located forwardly of bore 48. In bore 60 is fitteda grommet 62 through which the yarn Y is fed or guided from a supply ofyarn into the appropriate one of bores 54 and 56.

It will be appreciated that the supporting member 12 is divided intothree sections, the forward section being that part which has mountedtherein the yarn guide, the rear section being that part which is fittedwithin the channel of the mounting member 10, and with the intermediatesection being that portion between the forward section and the rearsection, the intermediate section being the one to which the spring 40is secured.

Reference has been made to the operative position of the supportingmember 12. As is known in the art, the yarn guide is in the operativeposition when it is in position to feed the yarn to the needles and inthis position the yarn guide is substantially vertical and thesupporting member 12 is substantially horizontal. When it is desired tomove the yarn guide out of position to inspect the needles, or for otherpurposes, the supporting member 12 is swung upwardly in the directionshown by arrow 64 of FIG. 3. In the position shown in FIG. 3, the yarnguide is in an inoperative position. ln the illustrated embodiment, asshown in H6. 3, it will be noted that the yarn guide is not quitehorizontal and that the supporting member, although upright, is notexactly vertical. The exact positioning of the parts in the inoperativeposition is not critical, it being merely necessary that the yarn guidebe moved out of the way sufficiently to permit the work on the needles.

As the supporting member is swung upwardly in the direction of arrow 64from the operative position shown in FIG. 2, the spring 40 still pressesagainst corner 46 and the bending of the spring is increased. when thesupporting member 12 has been moved upwardly about 45, the spring is atits maximum bending. As the supporting member is swung upwardly pastthis point, the bending of the spring decreases and the resilient forceof the spring urges the supporting member still further upwardly, and infact snaps the supporting member to the position shown in H6. 3, atwhich time the spring; abuts the forward edges of the sidewalls 16 and18. If desired, the supporting member 12 can be swung further in thedirection of arrow 64 past the point shown in FIG. 3. Although the forceof the spring resiliently holds the supporting member in the positionshown in FIG. 3, the parts are not held as firmly in this position asthey were when in the operative position shown in FIG. 2. However, it isnot necessary nor critical that the parts be very firmly maintained inan inoperative position because when in this position yarn is not beingfed to the needles. When the yarn guide is to be returned to theoperative position it is merely swung downwardly in the directionopposite to that of arrow 64 until the supporting member passes thepoint where the spring is at the maximum bending and then the springsnaps the supporting member into the position shown in H6. 2. Attentionis directed to the fact that the entire bracket, as shown in FIG. 1, issubstantially of uniform width, no wider that the forward section of thesupporting member 12. The tongue 34, however, is of reduced width so itcan fit between the upstanding sidewalls 16 and 18. The spring 40 is aswide as possible in order to provide the maximum resiliency andtherefore it is as wide as the intermediate section of the supportingmember. The only part of the construction which, in the illustratedembodiment, is wider than the remaining construction is the width of thepintle, since in this embodiment the pintle 36 is in the form of arivet, with the flattened heads projecting slightly. It is thereforeapparent that the present invention provides a bracket which occupies aminimum of space, thereby permitting the manufacture of a machine withmany yarn feeds. The construction of the present invention results in apivotable bracket permitting the yarn guide to be swung in and out ofoperative position, the yarn guide being firmly held in the operativeposition, and yet, at the same time, the bracket takes up no more spacethan the conventional nonpivotable bracket.

1 claim:

11. A yarn guide bracket comprising a rear mounting member mountable onthe dial cam carrier of a knitting machine, and a forward yam guidesupporting member pivotably secured to said mounting member for verticalangular movement between a substantially horizontal operative positionand an upright inoperative position; said mounting member having asubstantially horizontal base including a rear portion and a forwardportion, the latter having a pair of laterally spaced apart,longitudinally extending, upstanding opposed sidewalls, said opposedsidewalls defining between them a longitudinally extending channel whosebottom is the upper surface of said forward base portion, said rearportion having a vertical slot therethrough for receiving therein a boltfor fastening said mounting member on said dial cam carrier; saidsupporting member having a rear section, an intermediate section and aforward section, said rear section being positioned in said channel, ahorizontal pintle extending laterally through said sidewalls and saidrear section whereby said sup porting member is vertically pivotablebetween said operative horizontal position and said inoperative uprightposition, said forward section of said supporting member including meansfor mounting thereon a yarn guide; a leaf spring having one end thereofsecured to the underside of the intermediate section of said supportingmember, with the other end of said leaf spring being free and extendingbeneath said forward base portion of said mounting member when saidsupporting member is in the operative position, so that when saidsupporting member is in said operative position, said leaf spring isresiliently pressed against at least part of the underside of saidforward base portion to constantly urge said supporting memberdownwardly, and so that when said supporting member is in an uprightinoperative position, said leaf spring is resiliently pressing against aforward extremity of said forward base portion to bias said supportingmember away from said operative position.

2. A yarn guide bracket according to claim 1, wherein said forwardsection of said supporting member has a vertical bore therethrough forreceiving and securing therein the shaft of a yarn guide.

3. A yarn guide bracket according to claim 2, wherein the undersurfacesof said intermediate and rear sections of said supporting member aredisposed above the undersurface of at least the forwardmost extremity ofsaid forward base portion of said rear mounting member.

4. A yarn guide bracket according to claim 3, wherein stop means areprovided to limit downward angular movement of said supporting memberpast the operative position so that the combination of said stop meansand the resiliency of said spring firmly maintain said supporting memberin the operative position.

5. A yarn guide bracket according to claim 4, wherein said stop means iscomprised by the abutment of at least a portion of the undersurface ofsaid rear section of said supporting member with the bottom of saidlongitudinally extending channel.

6. A yarn guide bracket according to claim 5, wherein the undersurfaceof said base of said mounting member is stepped, the undersurface of theforward base portion being disposed above the undersurface of the rearbase section to provide a cutout for receiving the free end ofsaidspring.

7. A yarn guide bracket according to claim 1, having a yarn guidemounted on the forward section of said supporting member.

1. A yarn guide bracket comprising a rear mounting member mountable onthe dial cam carrier of a knitting machine, and a forward yarn guidesupporting member pivotably secured to said mounting member for verticalangular movement between a substantially horizontal operative positionand an upright inoperative position; said mounting member having asubstantially horizontal base including a rear portion and a forwardportion, the latter having a pair of laterally spaced apart,longitudinally extending, upstanding opposed sidewalls, said opposedsidewalls defining between them a longitudinally extending channel whosebottom is the upper surface of said forward base portion, said rearportion having a vertical slot therethrough for receiving therein a boltfor fastening said mounting member on said dial cam carrier; saidsupporting member having a rear section, an intermediate section and aforward section, said rear section being positioned in said channel, ahorizontal pintle extending laterally through said sidewalls and saidrear section whereby said supporting member is vertically pivotablebetween said operative horizontal position and said inoperative uprightposition, said forward section of said supporting member including meansfor mounting thereon a yarn guide; a leaf spring having one end thereofsecured to the underside of the intermediate section of said supportingmember, with the other end of said leaf spring being free and extendingbeneath said forward base portion of said mounting member when saidsupporting member is in the operative position, so that when saidsupporting member is in said operative position, said leaf spring isresiliently pressed against at least part of the underside of saidforward base portion to constantly urge said supporting memberdownwardly, and so that when said supporting member downwardly, and sothat when said supporting member is in an upright inoperative position,said leaf spring is resiliently pressing against a forward extremity ofsaid forward base portion to bias said supporting member away from saidoperative position.
 2. A yarn guide bracket according to claim 1,wherein said forward section of said supporting member has a verticalbore therethrough for receiving and securing therein the shaft of a yarnguide.
 3. A yarn guide bracket according to claim 2, wherein theundersurfaces of said intermediate and rear sections of said supportingmember are disposed above the undersurface of at least the forwardmostextremity of said forward base portion of said rear mounting member. 4.A yarn guide bracket according to claim 3, wherein stop means areprovided to limit downward angular movement of said supporting memberpast the operative position so that the combination of said stop meansand the resiliency of said spring firmly maintain said supporting memberin the operative position.
 5. A yarn guidE bracket according to claim 4,wherein said stop means is comprised by the abutment of at least aportion of the undersurface of said rear section of said supportingmember with the bottom of said longitudinally extending channel.
 6. Ayarn guide bracket according to claim 5, wherein the undersurface ofsaid base of said mounting member is stepped, the undersurface of theforward base portion being disposed above the undersurface of the rearbase section to provide a cutout for receiving the free end of saidspring.
 7. A yarn guide bracket according to claim 1, having a yarnguide mounted on the forward section of said supporting member.